Both Senators From Oklahoma Voted Against Federal Disaster Relief For Hurricane Sandy

[Joecooool]

WASHINGTON -- As frantic rescue missions continued Monday in Oklahoma following the catastrophic tornadoes that ripped through the state, it appeared increasingly likely that residents who lost homes and businesses would turn to the federal government for emergency disaster aid. That could put the state's two Republican senators in an awkward position.

Sens. Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn, both Republicans, are fiscal hawks who have repeatedly voted against funding disaster aid for other parts of the country. They also have opposed increased funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which administers federal disaster relief.

Late last year, Inhofe and Coburn both backed a plan to slash disaster relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy. In a December press release, Coburn complained that the Sandy Relief bill contained "wasteful spending," and identified a series of items he objected to, including "$12.9 billion for future disaster mitigation activities and studies."

Coburn spokesman John Hart on Monday evening confirmed that the senator will seek to ensure that any additional funding for tornado disaster relief in Oklahoma be offset by cuts to federal spending elsewhere in the budget. "That's always been his position [to offset disaster aid]," Hart said. "He supported offsets to the bill funding the OKC bombing recovery effort." Those offsets were achieved in 1995 by tapping federal funds that had not yet been appropriated.

In 2011, both senators opposed legislation that would have granted necessary funding for FEMA when the agency was set to run out of money. Sending the funds to FEMA would have been "unconscionable," Coburn said at the time.

Hart said Coburn had "never made parochial calculations" about Oklahoma's disproportionate share of disaster funds, "as his voting record and campaign against earmarks demonstrates." Hart added that Coburn, "makes no apologies for voting against disaster aid bills that are often poorly conceived and used to finance priorities that have little to do with disasters."

A representative for Inhofe could not immediately be reached for comment. Inhofe earlier tweeted: "The devastation in Oklahoma is heartbreaking. Please join me and #PrayforOklahoma. Spread the word."

Coburn also put out a message on Twitter, writing, "My thoughts and prayers are with those in Oklahoma affected by the tragic tornado outbreak."

Oklahoma currently ranks third in the nation after Texas and California in terms of total federal disaster and fire declarations, which kickstart the federal emergency relief funding process. Just last month, President Barack Obama signed a disaster declaration for the state following severe snowstorms.

And despite their voting record on disaster aid for other states, both Coburn and Inhofe appear to sing a different tune when it comes to such funding for Oklahoma.

In January of 2007, Coburn urged federal officials to speed disaster relief aid after the state faced a major ice storm.

A year later, in 2008, Inhofe lauded the fact that emergency relief from the Department of Housing and Urban Development would be given to 24 Oklahoma counties. "The impact of severe weather has been truly devastating to many Oklahoma communities across the state. I am pleased that the people whose lives have been affected by disastrous weather are getting much-needed federal assistance," he said at the time.

The cost of the recovery effort for this week's tornadoes is likely to be high. After a spate of tornadoes in the state in 1999, Oklahomans requested and received $67.8 million in federal relief funds.

USER BANNED FROM THREAD FOR THIS POST

[FRISKY]

Originally Posted by Joecooool

Coburn complained that the Sandy Relief bill contained "wasteful spending," and identified a series of items he objected to, including "$12.9 billion for future disaster mitigation activities and studies."

Originally Posted by Joecooool

After a spate of tornadoes in the state in 1999, Oklahomans requested and received $67.8 million in federal relief funds.

Originally Posted by TxAg

Sandy funding was full of pork crap.

Another failed crapbomb.

Gee whiz, how could they possibly think the government would mismanage BILLIONS of dollars......................

[Loco Vette]

So, Phil, just because a bill is a disaster response it should be rubberstamped with all the add on bullshit pork projects and waste that the left wants to deal out to their political buddies, and anyone who objects to unfettered spending is automatically a demon, right?

Just another attempt at spin. All this adminstration has to deploy.

[VITE1]

From the OP

Coburn spokesman John Hart on Monday evening confirmed that the senator will seek to ensure that any additional funding for tornado disaster relief in Oklahoma be offset by cuts to federal spending elsewhere in the budget. "That's always been his position [to offset disaster aid]," Hart said. "He supported offsets to the bill funding the OKC bombing recovery effort." Those offsets were achieved in 1995 by tapping federal funds that had not yet been appropriated.

We already know the OP has no desire to have the government act in a fiscally responsible way but they apparently do.

Secondly I and other here think ALL Government based insurance for Flood, Earth quake, tornado, hurricane or idiocy ( Better know as welfare) should be ended.

If you can't get someone in the private sector to insure your house on the beach in a hurricane zone or your home in tornado ally maybe you should look for a differently place to live or a smaller more secure home.

[Loco Vette]

And by the way, thread title fail.

Originally Posted by Jooecoooool

Both Senators From Oklahoma Voted Against Federal Disaster Relief For Hurricane Sandy

It was a voice vote in the Senate. You don't know how anyone voted.

113th Congress House Bill Actions

H.R.41 - To temporarily increase the borrowing authority of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for carrying out the National Flood Insurance Program.
113th Congress (2013-2014) Overview: House Bill
Sponsor: Rep. Garrett, Scott [R-NJ-5] (Introduced 01/03/2013)
Cosponsors: 44
Latest Action: 01/06/2013 Became Public Law No: 113-1.
Major Recorded Votes: 01/04/2013 : Passed House
Sort By Newest to OldestOldest to NewestGo Date Major Actions
01/06/2013 Became Public Law No: 113-1.

01/06/2013 Signed by President.

01/06/2013 Signed by President.

01/04/2013 Presented to President.

01/04/2013 Passed/agreed to in Senate: Received in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed without amendment by Voice Vote.

[vetteman9368]

Originally Posted by Loco Vette

And by the way, thread title fail.



It was a voice vote in the Senate. You don't know how anyone voted.

113th Congress House Bill Actions

You mean Joecool lied? No, liberals don't do that! Wait, my bad, that's all they do

[RED-85-Z51]

Hurricane sandy was controversial because..well, you build larg,e highly populated communities, with million dollar homes, right on the coast, in an area known to be hit by hurricanes....and when they get wind raped...the people who didnt have flood, or wind coverage, put their hand out...its like a guardrail on a turn at a racetrack...its going ot get hit, hard and often, usually in the same general area.

In the case of Oklahoma, its Tornado alley, its a vast expanse of realestate that, while they get severe storms and twisters...its like throwing a dart at a 50 foot by 50 foot map of the state...it might be farmland, it might be a town, or it might be a trailerpark....its a crapshoot at best. These people have coverage, but the vastness of the destruction and the severity of the destruction, will likely break a number of insurance companies. or stretch them too thin...the .gov can help in this aspect, also the army corps of engineers can assist....

Its different stuff....these were not 8 million dollar homes built on the bullseye of hurricane alley.

[Chris Fowler]

"Emergency" spending that was more than double the required funds with most of the spending deferred to after 2015 with none of the spending offset.

Who are the idiots that voted for this one?

[Bingo Fuel]

Originally Posted by TxAg

Sandy funding was full of pork crap.

Another failed crapbomb.

Found the link to the OP.
For some reason, it didn't contain the linked info from within as well.
" Coburn complained that the Sandy Relief bill contained "wasteful spending," and identified a series of items he objected to, including "$12.9 billion for future disaster mitigation activities and studies."

Statement by Senators John McCain and Tom Coburn on $60.4 Billion Hurricane Sandy Supplemental Spending Bill
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) today released the following statement on the $60.4 billion Hurricane Sandy supplemental spending bill before Congress this week:

“As Congress considers the $60.4 billion Hurricane Sandy supplemental spending bill this week, it is critical that we ensure taxpayer dollars go to help those impacted by this devastating storm and not to wasteful spending projects. We have already identified many issues that need to be addressed in this legislation.

“This is a preliminary list of questionable spending in the bill:

•$2 million to repair damage to the roofs of museums in Washington, D.C., while many in Hurricane Sandy’s path still have no roof over their own heads.

•$150 million for fisheries as far away from the storm’s path as Alaska.

•$125 million for the Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Watershed Protection program, which helps restore watersheds damaged by wildfires and drought.

•$20 million for a nationwide Water Resources Priorities Study.

•$15 million for NASA facilities, though NASA itself has called its damage from the hurricane ‘minimal.’

•$50 million in subsidies for tree planting on private properties.

•$336 million for taxpayer-supported AMTRAK without any detailed plan for how the money will be spent.

•$5.3 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers – more than the Corps’ annual budget – with no statement of priorities about how to spend the money.

•$12.9 billion for future disaster mitigation activities and studies, without identifying a single way to pay for it.

[Loco Vette]

Originally Posted by Bingo Fuel

Found the link to the OP.
For some reason, it didn't contain the linked info from within as well." Coburn complained that the Sandy Relief bill contained "wasteful spending," and identified a series of items he objected to, including "$12.9 billion for future disaster mitigation activities and studies."

That doesn't support the agenda®, therefore in the libloon mind it doesn't exist.

[Joecooool]

NY/NJ/CT Congressional Delegation Should Demand Apology from Oklahoma Senators Inhofe and Coburn


A brief reminder: Hurricane Sandy was the deadliest and most destructive hurricane since Katrina. It caused 285 total fatalities and was the second-costliest hurricane in United States history.

During the immediate aftermath of this act of Nature, these 2 dimwits were among many who decided to use the disaster as a political platform. They voted against a full FEMA / Army Corp of Engineer reconstruction, and repeatedly delayed votes to fund any for of rescue.

The claim that the rescue bill was any more pork laden than anything else that comes out of the sewer that is Washington D.C. was specious at best. Do a search for “Hurricane Sandy Pork” — what comes up are the same wingnut articles repeated over and over in various partisan outlets.

Media Matters noted in January that claims of money for “climate change for the EPA” was actually money for wastewater treatment in damaged areas (Fox News’ Bogus Hunt For Pork In Sandy Bill Continues).

Even Forbes called foul — they noted that the “pork” came from having to bribe red state Republicans — including Texas — in order to get the package passed over their filibuster” (Pork Holding Up Senate Sandy Relief Bill Funneled Into The Troughs Of GOP Deficit Hawks? You Betcha).

The hypocrisy reached a point of such absurdity that the Republican Governor of New Jersey, a Conservative favorite, went postal against the GOP House members as well as these two Oklahoma Senators.

Which brings me to the recent tragedy in Oklahoma: Now that the disaster is on the other foot, the Oklahoma Senators/deficit hawks are claiming Tornado aid ‘totally different’ from Hurricane Sandy aid.

Want to know how its different?

A big chunk of the Sandy emergency package replenished FEMA, which had been underfunded by the usual suspects. The Sandy relief package replenished its coffers. The votes in favor of Sandy Aid ironically funded FEMA, and it is helping with the rescue and clean up efforts in Oklahoma.

I would suggest that the entire NY/NJ/CT Congressional Delegation, regardless of party, as well as Governors Christie, Cuomo, and Malloy should demand an apology from Senators Inhofe and Coburn. These two geniuses were voting against funding an agency that is now helping out their electorate.

USER BANNED FROM THREAD FOR THIS POST

[Doug28450]

Originally Posted by TxAg

So did you write that Joe or just plagiarize someone, again?

It was edited twelve times, so it's hard to really know who the author is.

[RED-85-Z51]

I wonder how much of the Sandy Bill...is actually going to be used to help people...and not "replenish beaches" and "rebuild boardwalks" and "fix amusement parks" and crap like that?

[Loco Vette]

Pork in $60B Bill

Originally Posted by Michael Linhorst and Melissa Hayes, writing for North Jersey.com

In more than 100 pages of legislation detailing the $60 billion disaster aid plan Congress considered, there’s almost no mention of specific projects: no order to rebuild the sand dunes in Belmar that washed away. No earmark to fix the breached berm in the Meadowlands that flooded Moonachie and Little Ferry. No direct payment for the thousands left homeless.

Instead, the versions that passed between the House and Senate laid out the spending in broad terms. Replenish the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s budget; allocate funds for the Army Corps of Engineers to rebuild beaches and channels destroyed by superstorm Sandy; repair damaged roads, bridges and railroad infrastructure; and fund disaster relief and long-term housing needs through the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Those broad, unspecified categories — as well as a Senate bill that once included $400 million for projects like a new roof on the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and funding for fisheries in Alaska — allowed critics in Congress and elsewhere to claim the aid package is laden with “pork,” or unnecessary spending.

For anyone reading the bill language, it’s unclear exactly what projects would get funded. But members of Congress who have supporting documents say the money would go to things like repairing the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and to national fish hatcheries.

“There’s a lot of money that isn’t going to New Jersey, and a significant amount that isn’t even going to New York,” said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington-based advocacy group.

Some conservative members of Congress have also taken issue with funds to mitigate future damage, such as engineering the beaches at the Jersey Shore, to rebuild them better than they were before.

Governor Christie, who said he called between 30 and 40 House members Monday and Tuesday to muster support for the full $60 billion, defended those allocations.

“What I’m saying to some of the members is, is the rebuilding of the beach mitigation or is it restoration? It depends on the eyes of the beholder, I guess, but to me, you can’t responsibly rebuild unless and until you know you’re going to have a right to have a barrier at the beach,” Christie said Wednesday. “And so, then, how high do you build? How far back do you build? All of that is dependent upon what the Shore looks like. And so that may be mitigation to some, but to me it’s restoration to what it was before or made better so you can make wise types of investment decisions on how to rebuild private property and governmental property from there.”

The original aid bill derailed late Tuesday, shocking lawmakers who were promised a vote that night, outraging Republicans and Democrats alike and provoking Governor Christie to say the “toxic internal politics of the House majority” was prolonging the suffering of devastated New Jerseyans. An hour after Christie publicly blamed House Speaker John Boehner, the House leader met with members of the New Jersey and New York delegation, announcing soon after that an agreement was reached.

Now the newly reorganized House of Representatives is expected to vote Friday, but only to approve $9.7 billion to fund a federal flood insurance program that would have run out of money next week and delayed payments on more than 115,000 claims.

The remainder of the aid package, about $51 billion, is split between two House bills that are scheduled for a vote Jan. 15. If approved, and all three measures have Boehner’s support, they go the Senate for consideration.

The latest House measures were promised by Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor after they met with representatives from New York and New Jersey for about 30 minutes.

After the Senate approved the aid in one bill, the House took a different approach and was set to consider two separate measures Tuesday.

The first — a $27 billion bill signed off on by House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers — covered immediate needs: the $9.7 billion for the national flood insurance program; $5.4 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund to help individuals, families and communities in impacted areas; $5.4 billion for the federal Department of Transportation, which would fund Port Authority and NJ Transit recovery efforts; and $3.9 billion for the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to make repairs to publicly owned hospitals, local roads, and utilities and small businesses.

The second — which was expected to pass by a more narrow margin — crafted by Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-Morris, called for $33 billion for flexible community block grants and transportation, flood control and beach protection projects.

As of Thursday, Frelinghuysen had released a detailed breakdown of the $33 billion amendment he sponsored, but said it would fund longer-term recovery efforts and infrastructure improvements. His spokesman said the $27 billion and $33 billion measures were being reworked Thursday to reflect today’s expected vote on $9.7 billion for flood insurance and he could not release specifics. Both of the reworked bills would be on the agenda Jan. 15.

The House removed the $400 million from the two bills it was set to consider Tuesday night after completing a vote on tax cuts as part of the fiscal cliff deal.

The bill that passed in the Senate also included $287 million to repair national parks, including the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, as well as national fish hatcheries and wildlife refuges along the East Coast.

It called for $235 million to repair and reconstruct the Manhattan Veterans Affairs hospital and other facilities that were severely flooded; $161 million for the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program, which offers low-interest financing to repair and rebuild private property, including homes, rental properties and businesses; $100 million for public health and social services programs affected by the storm; $24.2 million to repair Army National Guard buildings damaged by the storm; and $6 million for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to restock food banks and soup kitchens in affected areas.

Rogers’ bill also included $1.35 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers to restore beaches and other infrastructure damaged by Sandy to pre-storm conditions. The legislation also directed the corps to submit plans for reducing future flooding and to dredge navigation channels.

That dredging was included in a list put out by Taxpayers for Common Sense detailing what it says is “pork” included in the legislation.

Ellis, of the taxpayers group, said the bill includes significant amounts of spending on projects unrelated to Sandy recovery, including $200 million for an Amtrak project on its Northeast Corridor rail line and new funding for Housing and Urban Development projects. He said the bill moved through the Senate too fast for lawmakers to scrutinize its contents.

“Part of the interest in moving these things relatively quickly is they don’t stand up to scrutiny very well,” he said.

Rogers said in a statement that the bill he released would provide “immediate relief, while also beginning the process of meeting long-term recovery needs.”

Christie has estimated it will cost $36.9 billion for New Jersey to rebuild and recover from the storm, a figure that includes $7.4 billion in “mitigation and prevention costs,” which have not been detailed publicly.

The governor on Wednesday said he sent supporting documentation to members of Congress, some of whom many not favor mitigation projects, like engineered beaches, but added no one has questioned the state’s request.

“There are some that have a philosophical point of view that some of the things in the package should never be involved in disaster relief, not questioning the validity of our numbers, they questioned the philosophical approach as to whether that’s something that should be included in disaster relief,” Christie said. “Other than that $400 million, no one has come back to us and said our numbers are wrong, bad, inflated or cooked.”

Email: [email protected] and [email protected]

[Will]

WTF is the point of this thread?

#1. OP contains ONLY a copy-paste article, NO comment from the poster. Even more annoyingly it breaks forum rules and provides no link or citation.

#2. Thread APPEARS to have the purpose of misleadingly/falsely labeling 2 politicians as hypocrites, or alleging that they will be hypocrites if they vote for any federal aid package for Oklahoma. I wouldn't know for sure given #1 above.

#3. Other posters pick up the slack and actually provide something more than regurgitation without citation, point out the reality that the 2 politicians in question were not in fact against federal aid for Sandy victims, but were forced to vote against PORK stuffed into such a bill.

#4. OP finally moseys back into his own zero-effort drive-by thread, completely ignores follow-up posts by other forum-members, completely ignores the reality above in #3, still fails to clarify point of this thread, and proceeds to copy-paste yet another article with no freaking link and no citation. Other forum members once again pick up slack, BOTH copy-paste articles refuted with facts.

Forums user Joecooool, what you've posted . . . is one of the most gratingly useless Vette Barn PR&C threads I have ever browsed. At no point in your rambling, incoherent copy-paste thread were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone on this board is now dumber for having viewed it. I award you a permanent ban from this thread, and may God have mercy on your soul.

[Bill]

Wow. It's like I'm back at CF.....oh wait, no, I can't go there. Thanks, Will, for the nostalgia.

Failing to provide a link? Not giving personal commentary with the OP? Really? Way to SeaFive up the joint. As a matter of fact, why not start banning onedef92 from threads? He posts articles of interest and oft times does not genuflect about them in the OP.

Color me disappointed.

[Craig]

My understanding is that Coburn is, in fact, trying to insist that additional aid to OK be paid for from cuts to other programs, which kind of deflates the OP argument. It doesn't much matter either way since FEMA currently has plenty of money in their current budget to cover it.

[Craig]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

Wow. It's like I'm back at CF.....oh wait, no, I can't go there. Thanks, Will, for the nostalgia.

Failing to provide a link? Not giving personal commentary with the OP? Really? Way to SeaFive up the joint. As a matter of fact, why not start banning onedef92 from threads? He posts articles of interest and oft times does not genuflect about them in the OP.

Color me disappointed.

The intent is different, OD's intent is to make everyone laugh and to entertain everyone here, JC's intent is to make folks mad and to entertain JC, or so it would seem with these kinds of posts.

Of course, we are the ones choosing to provide him with the entertainment, no one is required to read or respond; me included.

[Will]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

Wow. It's like I'm back at CF.....oh wait, no, I can't go there. Thanks, Will, for the nostalgia.

Failing to provide a link? Not giving personal commentary with the OP? Really? Way to SeaFive up the joint. As a matter of fact, why not start banning onedef92 from threads? He posts articles of interest and oft times does not genuflect about them in the OP.

Color me disappointed.

What I did is even less iron-fisted than simply deleting or closing the thread, which would prevent anyone from posting in it again.

I have yet to ban a single member for a single second from the forum, and probably never will.

Also I don't remember onedef posting drive-by threads in PR&C, and I don't see any on the first page. Sorry I missed it.

PRC Rules, all contained in one short post, posted at the top of the forum with a capitalized disclaimer to READ BEFORE POSTING:

https://www.thevettebarn.com/forums/p...uncements.html

. . . [W]hen you post material taken from somewhere else and produced by someone other than yourself, please provided crude citation via posting a citation and/or web-link to the source following the material . . .

[Will]

From the thread at the top of the forum this morning, via forum member Vite1:

Originally Posted by Vite1

IRS admits scrutiny of conservative groups was wrong | Reuters

They commit a felony and appologize? Where are the firings of those who did this?

Or is it an acceptable proctice Sine BHO keys looking at your Tax returns if you confront him.

Watchdog group sues to see whose taxes Obama has looked at - POLITICO.com

THIS is how you do it in PR&C. Article quoted in his OP, link provided, and a brief comment/observation by the OP. REALLY Simple. You don't even have to make your post nice and neat by putting the article in a quote box, nor do you even have to make any comment as per the rules as of this moment. Just the link would have been enough.